So once you’ve finished Macbeth, most people ask the question, “Who’s to blame for the mess, and the murders?”, and in a world where secrets are the language and plots are rampant, it is not an easy question to answer. There are always two main suspects whenever the blame game is played, Lady Macbeth and Lord Macbeth (For good reason).
Lady Macbeth – People who have more knowledge of the play usually go with her. The seemingly innocent Lady of the manor, who is trusted by Duncan, is actually a wolf in sheep’s clothing. She not only masterminds the murder, butforced Macbeth into doing the deed. “But screw your courage to the sticking-place, And we'll not fail. What cannot you and I perform upon The unguarded Duncan? What not put upon His spongy officers, who shall bear the guilt Of our great quell?” She would have killed Duncan herself, if he had not looked like her father! Later in the play, gone mad with guilt, Lady Macbeth dies. Not a very nice woman, and not a very nice way to go.
Macbeth – While his devious wife may have forced him to kill Duncan, Macbeth goes on to kill willy nilly with absolutely no qualms about it. The guards, Banquo, Lady Macduff, the list goes on. He takes to his role as ruthless king like a dog takes to a bone. Macbeth has “no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition.” Some say his undisguised ambition causes this train wreck that is the lives of the Macbeths. He too goes mad, and is brutally murdered by Macduff. Not a very nice man and not a very nice way to go.
But there is one factor that people often overlook. Who places the idea of kinghood in Macbeth’s mind? Lady Macbeth? No. Who convinces him that Banquo must die? Lady Macbeth? No. Thewitches. In a weird twist (That will hurt your mind if you think about it) if the witches hadn’t told him he would be king, he wouldn’t have been. And while the witches planted the seeds in Macbeth, it was really the darkness of human nature that made them grow, flourish, and ultimately, die,
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